A peculiar way of sleeping
by Pearlislove
Summary: Jacob finds out that Miss Peregrine sleeps like a bird
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Just a little thing I put together in like 12 hours from idea to production. It was inspired by some fanart of the peculiars sleeping, all of them in a bed except Miss P, who were sitting up.**

An Ymbryne was a rare kind of peculiar, Jacob knew that, and as it seemed they had a lot of different talents and tricks that they applied accordingly. Many of these tricks, Jacob had in fact seen at working himself during all the time he had spent with the peculiars and their headmistress.

It was however, very late one night when he went up to get a glass of water from the kitchen, that he discovered what must surely be their most useful one by far.

He had expected to be all alone in the kitchen when he went to get his drink, as it was past midnight, and no one else could possibly be up.

As he stepped into his kitchen, though, he immediately noticed the presence of a second being in the room, it's dark silhouette impossible to miss as the moonlight seeping in through the curtains landed on it's back.

Surprised, scared and with way too many bad - horror movie vibes, Jacob had quickly turned on the lights in the kitchen, only to discover that it was no threat at all.

Miss Peregrine was sleeping sitting up in the chair, her head resting against the kitchen window as she seemed not to have been disturbed in the slightest by the lights Jacob turned on. She simply kept sleeping.

Despite and careful and on guard she normally was, once she passed out she seemed to be sleeping like a rock, not even disturbed by the bright lights that would surely have woken up anyone else.

With a knowing smile resting on his lips, Jacob turned off the lights once more and backed out the room, returning to his room without water but with a very juicy piece of information instead.

A few days later, after hearing his mother make an offhand comment about how Miss Peregrine's bed was always so neatly made, almost as if no one used it as all, Jacob found himself becoming curious. Still remembering his encounter with the sleeping Miss Peregrine in the kitchen, he wondered if it had just been that one time, or if she actually **didn't** sleep in her own bed.

The next night, Jacob sneaked out of bed at an hour when he was sure even Miss Peregrine would be asleep, and while he didn't find her in the kitchen, he instead found her curled up on the livingroom floor behind the sofa. She had brought her legs up to her chest, and her head was comfortably resting on top her knees, a small smile resting on her lips as she seemed to be having a good dream.

As Jacob first stumble across her little hideout, he accidentally pointed the flashlight he had brought along straight at her face, and for a second he was sure she was going to wake up, wondering what the hell he was doing.

Only she didn't.

Just like when he found her sleeping in a chair in the kitchen, she remained fast asleep, not as much as moving a finger despite the light hitting her in the face.

Miss Peregrine slept like a rock.

By now, Jacob was fully convinced that Miss Peregrine didn't actually ever sleep in the bed in the guest room in his house which she had been assigned. Instead, for whatever reason, she positioned herself in different quite uncomfortable looking positions and places around the house, and slept there, obviously waking up before anyone else in order to be able to cover her tracks.

Still, Jacob remembered his old chemistry teacher telling him that 'You can't trust your facts until they have been tested with three unrelated tests that gave the same result'. So far it was a slim chance it had been a coincidence, or that she preferred the floor or a chair at certain times, and he'd decided to wait two weeks before trying his theory a third time.

He was very curious to see where he'd find her next.

Two weeks later, he get out of bed and sneak down to the first floor, checking both the kitchen, where he found her the first time, and the living room, where he found her the second time, only to discover she was in neither place.

Stil, Jacob had no intention of giving up, and instead he continued his search, looking through mostly any place he could think of on the first floor, before going back to the second floor and looking there too.

It was when he suddenly came up with the idea to actually check out Miss Peregrine's room that he finally found her, hiding in the built in walk-in closet that was still relatively empty even though his mother had taken Miss Peregrine out to shop less than a week after she arrived, her worn out Victorian era dresses sourly having needed an update to something more modern.

When Jacob first came into her room, quiet as a mouse and fearing that he'd be caught this time, he had been amazed and excited to find that Miss Peregrine's bed was indeed empty, thus confirming his theory that she did not sleep there at night.

However, he had also been confused, because he had still not seen Miss Peregrine anywhere, and lest she'd flown off to rest in a tree somewhere in bird form, which he for some reason doubted she'd do, she ought to be somewhere.

He had just been on his way to leave the room and go back stairs, thinking maybe he missed her on the first floor, when he heard some light snoring coming from the walk in closet.

Prying the door open and looking around with his flashlight, he had found her sitting in the deepest, darkest corner, curled up and looking similar to when h'd found her sleeping behind the sofa.

Because lights and flashlights had failed to wake her up the other two times, Jacob hadn't been very careful with how he pointed the flashlight in his hand, and as it rolled across Miss Peregrine's face, she suddenly opened her hawk-like eyes.

"Ah!" Jacob exclaimed, backing, horrified as Miss Peregrine suddenly woke up.

"Ah!" She screamed back, terrified at the boy suddenly standing in the closet with her.

"What are you doing here?!" Jacob asked next, confused and tired and not really very coherent.

"What are you doing here, Jacob?! I do believe your mother taught you to not sneak into other people's bedrooms in the middle of the night!" She exclaimed back, obviously tired and confused as well as she used his first name instead of his last name, like she normally would.

For a moment, Jacob didn't know quite what to reply. He really shouldn't have been in her room, nore her walk in closet, but on the other hand she shouldn't have been there either. "And I thought your mother taught you to sleep in a bed." It's his final comment, showing off the reason he was in the walk in closet to begin with, and he gave her a triumphant smile.

Miss Peregrine seemed surprised at the last exclamation, looking around her like she just realised she was sleeping in a walk in closet, before slowly standing up, carefully not to hit her head against the wall.

"I don't sleep in beds unless I have to. They are extremely uncomfortable." She commented slowly, walking out of the closet with Jacob at her heels.

"Isn't sleeping curled up somewhere else more uncomfortable? Or at least, like, straining for your body?" Jacob asked back, realising too late that the last one might have been a bit offensive.

"How old do you think I really am?" Miss Peregrine hissed, glaring at him while presenting him with the trick question of the century.

"Not too old." he quickly assured her, her scowl being exchanged for an amused smile. "But still, beds are normally made to be comfortable to sleep on…"

"Jacob." Miss Peregrine sigh, obviously still not too happy to have to discuss her sleeping habits with the boy. "What is an Ymbryne?"

"A peculiar who can manipulate time and turn into a bird?" Jacob answered, confused as to why it was related to anything.

"Exactly. We're half-bird, half-human, are we not? And how does birds sleep?" Miss Peregrine asked, sitting down on her bed and giving him a look that closest resembled a first-grade teacher asking him to tell her what two plus two was.

Jacob looked at her, dumbfounded. How did birds sleep? They sleep sitting up."

 _They sleep sitting up_

Realising what he had said, it all suddenly made sense. The closet, the chair, the sofa… Miss Peregrine slept sitting up, or almost anyway, just like a bird, because she was half-bird herself.

"We sleep sitting Jacob, like birds. And it is very hard to sleep sitting up in a bed." Miss Peregrine affectionately patted the sheets of the bed beside her. "It is nothing wrong with beds, neither I nor any other Ymbryne think so, but it's a part of peculiarity to sleep sitting."

"So you've always slept sitting?" He asked, still a bit shocked, and Miss Peregrine nodded.

"Yes, though it's not as though we can't sleep laying down in beds. It just make it very hard to get any good sleep, because it feels uncomfortable." Miss Peregrine blinked smiling. "Now, I do think it's time for you to go back to bed!"

"Of course, good night Miss Peregrine." After all Jacob had discovered and learnt that night he wasn't late to leave the room and return to his own bed, still trying to get over the facts that he had learnt.

 _Ymbrynes sleep sitting up, like birds_


	2. Chapter 2

"Can't...can't you sleep with m-me tonight? Pleeeeaaase?" Claire begged, her little hands grabbing at the edge of my skirt as I attempted to leave the room. The poor thing had been bedridden for almost two days now due to a particularly nasty cold, and it had made the pink-clad five year old more clingy than usual.

Normally, my answer would have been a strict no, because I believed that keeping boundaries between me and the children was important in order to make sure they behaved and didn't disrespect me. But as I looked down into the big blue eyes of my youngest charge, I could feel myself caving in, my heart to soft to deny her this when she definatly made herself deserving of it.

"Alright. But only for tonight." I whispered, bending down to place a small kiss on her forehead as she nodded in acknowledgement.

"Only for tonight." She repeated in her childish voice as I climbed into her bed, slipping under the pink and yellow sheets and pulling the tiny body next to my close. My arms automatically seated themselves around her tiny waist, and she sighed in comfort and happiness as she turned around to burry her little face into my chest, closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep before I could say anything else.

"Just close your eyes, the sun is going down, you'll be alright, no one can hurt you know…" I half sung, half mumbled, distracted, dragging my hand through the blond curls at the back of her head but being careful not to touch the mouth with its razor sharp teeth which were hiding underneth the golden curls.

The little girl's face was one of extreme and utter piece, so unlike the distress that'd been playing on her small features for the last two days while she battled the nasty illness that kept her weak and miserable, and i smiled, feeling the exhaustion from the last few days heavy workload come crashing down on me.

I wished I could just close my eyes and drift off to sleep underneath the pink and yellow sheets, one of my beloved charges held tightly in my arms and inducing me with a sense of safety nothing else did.

But of course, my peculiarity as an Ymbryne would come into play as soon as I closed my eyes **,** and though I may feel relaxed, there'd be no sleep for me, or at least not any good one, the soft material of the mattress far too harsh and uncomfortable to my body.

Looking down at Claire, I could see that she was indeed fast asleep, snoring quietly against my chest. Figuring i needed to get some sleep this night, too, if I wanted to have a chance to be able to deal with all my children the next day, I carefully let go of her waist and scooted away from her a little, wanting to see if she'd wake up.

She remained fast asleep, only repositioning herself a little.

Carefully, I dragged myself into sitting position, my back resting against the rough wooden surface of the bed's head board. Despite the fact that anyone else would surely find it deeply uncomfortable to try and sleep in sitting position with your back against something hard and wooden, for me it was ideal. As an Ymbryne I was half human, half bird, and got different attributes from both of the parts inside me. The sleeping came from the bird, and as birds sleep standing up, most Ymbrynes rested sitting up in an upright position.

Slowly exhaling, I allowed my always tense and stressed body to relax, slouching against the headboard as I tried to find a comfortable position to sleep.

"This is going to be just fine…." I mumbled, letting my eyes close once more and quietly drifting off to sleep, hoping to regain some of the energy I so desperately needed to keep going.

"Miss Peregrine?" I had barely even been asleep five minutes before I was once more woken up, the high pitched voice of the little girl resting next to me reaching my ears and waking me up. "Aren't you going to sleep?"

The girl is sitting up beside me, looking at me from the corner of her eyes while fiddling with the hem of her pink pyjamas, looking pale and thin and breakable, like the dolls I played with as a child.

"You should go back to sleep sweetie." I tell her gently, grabbing her around the waist and trying to guide her back into laying position, but she's struggling against my grip. "Claire, it's late, we need to sleep!"

"You didn't answer my question!" The girl counter, trying to look serious but closest resembling a red faced puffer fish or a hamster with food in its mouth, as her cheeks are all filled with air.

I sigh, knowing she wouldn't let me move her until i finally agreed to answer her question, and as such, I decided to do that. "I _was_ trying to sleep Claire."

"No you were not! You were sitting !" What I said only seemed to have made her more aggravated, and I quickly pulled back as saw her second mouth beginning to move underneath the curls. She could be quite lethal when mad. "Sitting people don't sleep! Were you trying to leave?"

The last part surprise me, and when I look her in the eyes I can see tears streaming down her chin, anger and sadness mixing and making my heart ache with an intense need to _fix_ it because I simply couldn't stand any of my beloved children looking like that.

"Sweetie, I wasn't leaving!" I try to reach out for her, but she turned her back to me and as such I had to retreat in order to not risk getting bit. "I promised i would stay with you tonight, didn't I?" Finally I manage to get my arms around her waist, and I immediately pull her close and turn her so that she's facing me.

"Then why were you sitting up?!" She is fuming, but the anger seem to more and more be subsiding into sadness as both her mouths are sobbing, her hands grabbing at my dress.

"I was trying to sleep, Claire. Nothing else. I sit up sleeping." I said quietly, desperately wanting to put a stop to all that was happening. It was absolutely heartbreaking to see the child sobbing, her sobs doubling as her backmouth joined in in the high pitched wailing. "Like a bird."

"Like a bird?" Claire exclaimed suddenly, red rimmed blue eyes glancing up at me, and I almost wanted to laugh, because suddenly she looked so confused, like she didn't know what I was talking about.

"Birds sleep upright, sweetie, and I'm half bird. I need to sit up to sleep, it was all I was trying to do. Promise." By now she's not struggling against my grip anymore, and I carefully guide her into lying position, hoping to be able to get her to go back to sleep, and to go back to sleep myself.

"So you're a silly old bird that sleep like a silly bird?" Claire asked as lay down, snuggling against my legs as I was still sitting up. "Because I think that's funny."

"Yes, sweetie, I'm a…" I frowned, trying to force myself to repeat what she'd called me despite finding it mildly offensive. I wasn't in the mood to have to explain what something being offensive meant, too. "I'm a silly old bird who sleep like a silly bird. It is funny but you need to sleep sweetie."

"And you'll be here and sleeping too? Like a bird?" Claire asked, her eyes already closed as she snuggled even closer to my leg than before.

"Yes, I'll be here sleeping like a bird." I sigh, exhaling slowly as the child beside me was finally drifting off to sleep, and ever so slowly, so was I. I had been such a long day for us and it was more than time for us to sleep in our own, peculiar way.

"Sleeping sitting upside is not that bad" I smiled.


End file.
